7 ways to get kids to eat their vegetables, according to science

These tactics can help even the pickiest of eaters to tuck into their greens

GettyEmma Kim

By Rachel Burge

27 February 2017

You want your child to be healthy, but even the Jolly Green Giant couldn't persuade your picky eater to eat their broccoli. It's a dilemma most parents face, but could science help?

Researchers have been looking at what influences children's choices when it comes to food – and the results are surprising.

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1
Make it colourful

It's no secret that the visual appeal of food affects whether or not we want to eat it – but did you know that children prefer different colours and food arrangements to adults?

Research from the University of Cornell found that kids are attracted to plates that contain six colours, while adults prefer just three. This is something confectionary companies know well – open a packet of M&Ms and you'll find six colours inside.

'What kids find visually appealing is very different to parents,' explains lead researcher Brian Wansink. 'Unfortunately, when we parents plate food for kids, we do it in a way that is appealing to us and not to them.'

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2
Offer lots of variety

The same study found that kids like to have seven different foods on their plate, while adults prefer three. So if you want to encourage your picky eater to tuck into a healthy dinner, offer lots of variety.

According to Wansink, children also find food placed in a figurative design more appealing.

Instead of mixing vegetables into a meal, try placing them in piles. Serve chicken with separate mounds of sweetcorn, peas, broccoli, carrots, pasta, and tomato sauce and they'll be more likely to try everything on their plate – in theory, at least.

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3
Serve vegetables first

You give them a beef burger with a side serving of chips and peas or pizza with broccoli and, surprise, surprise, the vegetables don't get touched. The problem is that you're putting vegetables into a competition they'll never win.

That's the thinking of Traci Mann from the University of Minnesota, who has been studying eating habits for more than 20 years. Her advice is to offer vegetables first – when children are hungry and less likely to be distracted by other foods.

Mann tested the theory in school cafeterias and found that it more than quadrupled the amount of vegetables kids ate.

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4
Don't give up!

Sometimes, getting your little ones to eat their greens comes down to sheer persistence. Researchers at University College London offered children a non-favourite vegetable over 12 consecutive days and found that they ate – and enjoyed – them by the end.

The secret? Offer a reward, which could be a sticker or enthusiastic praise each time the vegetable passes their lips. After a month of continued exposure children who were given a sticker ate more of the vegetable than those who received only praise.

Yet after three months, the ones given a sticker were no different to those who received praise – and both groups were eating nearly twice as many vegetables as the kids in the control group.

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5
Play with their food

Getting creative with food can also help. For example, Wansink suggests placing bacon in the shape of a smile along the bottom of a plate or arranging sweetcorn in a heart shape.

Try playing around with the names of foods too. Wansink and his team found that children ate more carrots, broccoli and green beans when school menus called these vegetables X-Ray vision carrots, Power Punch Broccoli, and Silly Dilly Green Beans.

Broccoli is off the menu – anyone fancy some 'little green trees'?

GettyEmma Kim

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6
Don't withhold the ketchup

Most kids love tomato ketchup. It may not be the healthiest option thanks to the sugar, but you might want to let splash it on their spinach – at least to begin with.

Studies show that children are more likely to accept a new food – even a bitter-tasting one – if their first experience of it is paired with sweetness.

In one 2007 study, scientists gave children sweetened vegetables on a number of occasions, and then asked them to taste and rate the vegetables in their natural, unsweetened state. Surprisingly, the kids preferred the unsweetened versions of the veggies – which suggests you can always cut back on the ketchup once they're used to eating spinach.

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7
Involve them behind the scenes

Get your kids to help grow and cook vegetables and you might find they're more willing to taste the results of their hard work at the dinner table.

Researchers in the US found that children are five times more likely to eat salad when they have grown it themselves.

Make mealtimes colourful and fun and who knows, your kids may eat their greens yet!

For great healthy recipes for all the family, check out our recipe channel!

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